In practice, huge container ships can't sail that much inland - not enough water in rivers.
I used to live in lower Vltava valley, and for a single ship that would pass (mostly carrying sand or stone; I don't remember any single container ship), about 100 freight trains would thunder along the same river, mostly from/to Hamburg.
Ships in European rivers are usually not container ships, but bulk carriers, for which the number "1 ship == 100 trucks" is roughly right AFAIK.
But around half of those bulk carriers are transporting fossil fuels, so while they suffer under the climate crisis-induced drought, many of them are contributors to their own (and our collective) problems.
It sucks for those transporting essential, not climate-destroying goods, but when it comes to the other ones, I just hope it helps to speed up independence from fossil fuels.
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Rivers in Europe are nautical highways and have been for a thousand years. One container ship replaces a hundred trucks.
In practice, huge container ships can't sail that much inland - not enough water in rivers.
I used to live in lower Vltava valley, and for a single ship that would pass (mostly carrying sand or stone; I don't remember any single container ship), about 100 freight trains would thunder along the same river, mostly from/to Hamburg.
Ships in European rivers are usually not container ships, but bulk carriers, for which the number "1 ship == 100 trucks" is roughly right AFAIK.
But around half of those bulk carriers are transporting fossil fuels, so while they suffer under the climate crisis-induced drought, many of them are contributors to their own (and our collective) problems.
It sucks for those transporting essential, not climate-destroying goods, but when it comes to the other ones, I just hope it helps to speed up independence from fossil fuels.